Efficient warehousing for Altmühltaler Mineralbrunnen

Altmühltaler Mineralbrunnen GmbH contracted SSI SCHAEFER to build its new logistics center at the company's headquarters in Treuchtlingen, Germany. The combination of high bay warehouse (HBW), conveying systems and electric monorail systems, coupled with the customized WAMAS® logistics software, will in future facilitate optimal and efficient warehouse logistics.

The new construction project is part of a company-wide modernization and investment concept, around which production and logistics operations at the group headquarter will be restructured over the coming years. "The aim is to increase capacity and efficiency for storage and order completion, as well as reducing the strain on the historic city center of Treuchtlingen," explains Günter Kutschera, managing director of Altmühltaler Mineralbrunnen GmbH. On the decision to award the contract to SSI SCHAEFER, he continues: "The logistical concept, the key data for components and systems, and the process-relevant references put forward by SSI SCHAEFER demonstrated good prospects for long-term investment security, which quickly had convinced us."

Over two construction phases, the manufacturer is planning to leave its historical factory in the city center for a nearby industrial estate located to the south. In the first phase, SSI SCHAEFER is constructing the new distribution center with HBW, empty pallet acceptance and goods-out facilities over an 8.4-hectare site. Upon handover of the turn-key installation, delivery to bulk purchasers by haulers will commence from the distribution center. In the second phase, the manufacturer's production and filling systems will be transferred. After they have been moved, the fully automated connection of the logistics center to the production lines will be possible.

The construction specialist Goldbeck was once again awarded the contract for the planning of the building application and the realization of the buildings. The family business, headquartered in Bielefeld, has been working in partnership with SSI SCHAEFER for several years. For Altmühltaler Minetalbrunnen, Goldbeck has already implemented building measures in Breuna/Hessen and in Baruth/Brandenburg. Founded in 1969, the company designs, builds and maintains industrial objects with a focus on industrial and logistics halls, office buildings and car parks. Goldbeck is a partner for medium-sized enterprises as well as for large companies, investors, project developers and contracting authorities.

During the transition period, the goods that have been filled in the city center will be transported to the distribution center by a shuttle service, where they will be registered in the proprietary WAMAS logistics software before being stored and retrieved fully automatically. SSI SCHAEFER’s intralogistics specialist will implement a HBW with 50,400 pallet storage locations for double-deep storage, a spacious goods-in and goods-out area with 15 conveyor branches each, as well as conveying systems and staging lines. Energy-efficient Exyz storage-retrieval machines will handle the storage and retrieval processes in the 14-aisle HBW. Controlled and coordinated by WAMAS, the pallet conveying system will guide the order pallets in sequence to the staging lines in goods-out. This facilitates the fastest possible loading processes and short turnaround times. The installation of an electric monorail system will in future connect the HBW directly to the upstream production building.

Assembly of the HBW, which follows a silo design, is expected to begin in the summer of 2017. From July 2018, all drinks distribution activities for the production site are to be increasingly handled by the new distribution center.

The headquarter in Treuchtlingen is already the third Altmühltaler Mineralbrunnen productions site, alongside Baruth/Mark (Brandenburger Urstromquelle GmbH) and Breuna (Vitaqua GmbH), where SSI SCHAEFER has been a general contractor. The group produces mineral water, soft drinks, and cocktails, and is one the leading manufacturers in the German drinks industry.